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Monday, December 15, 2008

Monday, December 15, 2008

Alert Wreckporter Marjorie M. found this article detailing a Wreck interrupted. It's about a ShopRite in New Jersey refusing to write a three-year-old's name on his birthday cake. Why? Because the boy is named Adolf Hitler Campbell, and his parents insisted on his full name being on the cake. (His sister is named Aryan Nation. Need I say more?)

Tragic, yes, but little Adolf isn't the only one getting a bad name. Check out this photo caption:In case you can't read that, it says "Young Adolf Hitler Campbell will be getting a cake from Wal-Mart this year."

Poor Wal-Mart.

Hey, you think they'll get the swastikas right?

Nah, me neither.

NOTE: I have no idea if Wal-Mart wrote the inscription or not. In fact, I actually feel bad for the store having its name associated with this...family. Not as bad as I feel for little Adolf and Aryan, of course, but still pretty bad. After all, Cake Wrecks has a LOT to thank the Wal-Mart bakery department for. ;)

UPDATE: I'm shutting down comments now; I think everyone has said their piece, and I'm tired of filtering out all the antisemitic comments and haters calling for these people's blood. As some of you have said, these folks are out for free publicity, so we shouldn't give them the satisfaction of endlessly debating it. I really only included it here as an interesting aside to the world of wrecked cakes. Now, moving on...

That's akin to child abuse, giving your children names like that. As a Jewish person, I of course, am completely offended and digusted and believe that any store should have the right to refuse to service these folks but then again, the poor kids, you're screwed either way.

Wow, that is soo loving. I think I'll also put my agenda before the welfare of my children.

Aren't you supposed to want to protect your children from undue strife and difficulty? OK, so choose names that will cause consistent and most likely negative attention to their kids. Ah, and to think, the parents names are probably something like John and Jane.

Hey at least the kids have some options: like self defense classes or legally changing their names after 18 years of hell...

OMG. Birthday cakes are the least of these kid's problems. I think those names should be enough to indicate that Child & Protective Services needs do something to protect these poor children from their parents.

I'd be rather inclined not to link my products to that family, personally. Of course it isn't the kids' fault that their parents are lunatics, but the parents are also fools if they think that their name choices will never cause any trouble for those kids or themselves.

There are three kids in that family: JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell, Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell and Adolf Hitler Campbell. The ShopRite in question denied the order because they have Jewish employees and employees who lost family members in WWII, and it was more important to the store to support their values and employees than to make a few bucks off the cake.

I think the parents were trying a little too hard to be offensive; just how often do you actually see a cake with a kid's first AND middle name on it? It's not fair that such a little cutie-pie has to be saddled with such trash for parents.

How common is it for customers to request a full name on a birthday cake? I've seen a few cakes with the recipient's first and middle names together, but I've never seen one with the first, middle and last name on the cake.

In Germany, the office of vital statistics (Standesamt) has to agree to register the name parents pick for a child; if they refuse to, the parents can appeal but German name law is pretty strict. There, a child's name has to reflect the sex of the child and must not endanger the well-being of the child. I remember marveling at that in German class in college.

WV: dialions. Sounds like the episode of South Park where Cartman got his eyes "dialated" (sic) by a malicious eye doctor that kept calling him 'piggy'.

OMG how awful! I would refuse too! I feel sorry for those kids because God knows how they'll turn out! And the boy is so cute too! I'm not Jewish myself and my husband is, but anyone would find that disturbing!

"We believe the request ... to inscribe a birthday wish to Adolf Hitler is inappropriate," said Karen Meleta, a ShopRite spokeswoman.

Did the store even understand what they were refusing to do? Not that I'm defending the family, but it seems that the upper level management might not have understood that that it wasn't a novelty cake. Or if they did, their public statement is poorly phrased.

Well, Trevor, it may have been a temporary reprieve, rather than a full on Wreckus Interruptus, as it seems these misbeggoten excuses for humans are going to get their cake somewhere else.

Coitus interruptus (permanent) would have been the way to go, though, as this cake issue will be an annual event multiplied by the number of children the parents (I use the term loosely) produce. I also think the cake hullabaloo is the least of the offensive brouhahas that will be intentionally caused by these alleged parents.

I think that the best part of this is the picture of the little fella. Is it just me or is his hair dyed blonde? And I could not get a very good look, but I am pretty sure that those eyes are brown!! Not exactly a specimin of the 'Aryan Race.'

Its unfortunate that the children are victims of the parents' prejudice, and more unfortunately, it is likely to be perpetuated through them.

Adolf Hitler is not the child's actual name-- the white supremacist father merely wants the publicity. Shoprite offered to write the name on the cake if the father could prove the child's name with a birth certificate.

I'm ashamed that there are still people out there who can't see past race or religion or any other bias. I can only hope that one day, these kids realize how messed up their parents are and change their names!

There aren't many things that can be said about this situation... I feel horrible for these children because they will be ridiculed when they get to school age. Not only that, after reading the article and looking at the pictures from the family's home, it looks like these children will also be raised in an environment full of the negative teachings of the Nazis... Others have said this and I will repeat it... It's sad...

More than likely the idiot parents are, and the children will grow up to be much less a danger than your average ghetto american. Probably less a danger than four really irate bees. New Jersianites should have a greater fear of shark attacks than idiot nazi-wannabes.

Jen, I hope you're ready to get bombarded by lunatics. Those bastards are relentless.

Any private business is well withing its rights to decide what it will or will not put on a customized product. If someone had asked for a whimsical image of figures in white robes and pointy hoods standing around a hangman's noose and a burning cross, should they have complied? Or a smiley face over the image of the burning World Trade Center for a 9/11 party? How about an image of a dismembered woman, or an aborted fetus?

What cretins. Too bad New Jersey doesn't have much in the way of children & youth services to get these kids out of this toxic environment.

Jenny Whiskey, you folks from New York and New Jersey certainly have shipped a lot of your trash to Pennsylvania. But don't worry, we're planning on sending it right back to your pristine shores.

And I thought my mom's friend was a little wonky for not thinking of her daughters initials when they names her. A.S.S... Anyway... These parents clearly are just craving the media. I agree, no one gets a full name put on the cake. These parents are ridiculous and I don't really care if Shop Rite wanted to make the cake or not. The parents should take all the blame on this one. Poor little birthday boy. I hope his parents didn't ruin his birthday with all the fuss they made.

At least the poor girl can easily change her name to Arianna - but alas, it will make no difference until she has grown up an moved away because no on in the town or school will ever give her a chance after what the parents did to her. The poor boy is stuck unless he comes up with something completely different. One good thing, though, people will now be watching this home for other signs of abuse.

I went to grade school with a girl named Aryan and didn't understand until years later why my parents were horrified.

Let's hope, for cute little "Adolf" Campbell's sake, that he doesn't realize he's a ploy in his parents' political agenda. Did the dad in this story really think nobody would flinch when he asked for the kid's full name to be put on a cake? Can you say "publicity stunt"?

that's probably the most disgusting thing I have ever heard, and to read the parent's defense!! they just wanted "unique"names!?!?! are you kidding me...those kids are going to be in just as much of a toxic enviroment as a ghetto at least psychologically

Yikes. I just read the story on this in the Express-Times (done by a former intern at the paper I work at) and am at a loss for words. These people are just unbelievable -- swastikas have no meaning?! Think I may call up Wal-Mart and give 'em a piece of my mind.

I am appalled that someone actually named their kids with those names.

oddharmonic said...

How common is it for customers to request a full name on a birthday cake? I've seen a few cakes with the recipient's first and middle names together, but I've never seen one with the first, middle and last name on the cake. Actually, I have written childrens' full names on cakes quite often. Usually its followed by, "We love you from your family, Mama, Papa, Uncle Bubba, Aunt Flo, Sissy, Petey and Bobby!" oh yeah, and that's on a 1/4 sheet cake. I would really like to tell them to BUY A DAMN CARD! LOL

Um, isn't he wearing a Superman sweater? Isn't Superman a creation of Jewish artists? Like, Duh Hitler family! You're not even good at being Nazis. Maybe, hopefully, li'l Adolph will grow up to do what all kids do and reject his parents' backwards values.

I'm ashamed by all the remarks on this site about the association of the name Adolf Hitler with a)killing jews and b) automatic revulsion. Yes Adolf was an evil man who commited atrocities but to attack a person who has that name is an atrocity in of itself. Even Churchill said that if they (and the americans) had lost the war they would ahve been the ones swinging for war crimes... bomber Harris and Dresden anyone?

The other name aryan nation is just sick though and the parents must be rather ill in the head.

I was one of seven children who were all named after catholic saints. In later years I was called a lot worse things than my given name, like queer, fag and abomination to name some printable ones. I have a sibling who eventually changed her name because she thought my parents were cruel to have named her in such a fashion. She then married a born again christian who named their child so the childs initials would be KKK. These are the same people who think my being gay should keep me from marrying and adopting children. I pray for them and remember that the world isn't always as I would have it.St James

Wow... neither a name nor a birthday cake should ever be this controversial... so sad, I wish this poor child and his siblings the best of luck in the future and hope that someone out there takes the time to teach them diversity and history and a little bit of respect for others so that he can go on the be the Adolf Hitler Campbell that creates a vaccine for AIDS or is the 60th president of the United States.

Unbelievable that a parent would name their children with such names. But... (1) freedom of speech (2) rite to individual political/religious beliefs (3) baloney. I'm trying to see their side but absolutely can't. Vikki www.survival-cooking.blogspot.com

The kids' names are bad enough for them to have to grow up with... but what I really worry about is the kind of indoctrination those kids will grow up with.

I mean if the parents believe in their agenda strongly enough to name kids like that, just think of the hate they will fill those kids' heads with! I agree with the commenter who was grateful that CPS might now be watching that household for any signs of abuse. Maybe there is a chance those kids could could grow up with a realistic outlook on life if not raised in a culture of hatred. Furthermore, if the kids are removed from the home, in some states, the court actually does have the power to change the kids' names if it is in their best interests to do so; as it arguably would be here!

Word verif: "untent." The intent to undo something so obviously wrong as this!

Ok Well I just wanted to say I see both sides. I understand the parents wanting to put the kids name on the cake. I get that. I also see the understanding of the store also. I really get that.

What I don't get is why would the parents that are out of work. I don't understand why they would name their kids those kinds of names. Yeah I get free speech. I really do. I'm glad that I can name my kid Cotton Candy if I feel like it. I don't understand naming your child Adolf Hitler. One day those kids are going to be sitting a high school class room and have to hear and deal with getting picked on.

I am so with Shoprite on this one. You can get anything you want on your cake as long as it doesn't offend my workers. I do wonder if the head person in Shoprite understood that the cake was for a kid.

If they really wanted a unique name the could have called him Canned Pineapple. Im just saying.....

I think this is absolutely horrifying. My boyfriend actually showed me this in the newspaper, and I thought that my eyes were fooling me.I think the more sad thing about it was that WalMart actually wrote the name on the cake. Think of that poor child's reaction when he grows up and realizes how horrible Adolf Hitler really was; however, the newspaper stated that the parent's are both on disability and that their whole house is covered in swastika's.I am pretty sure that they will teach this child that this sort of behavior is normal.That's not cool, I believe that there should be some limitations on naming your child such things.Especially becuase they can become very race offensive.All I can say is that I am disgusted.

I think Wal-Mart should be a category on this website. Any time somebody finds a deliciously hot wreck at WallyWorld you can just tag it Wal-Mart.

As to this story - ShopRite just opened Pandora's box. I think it's terrible this family decided to name their children that way, but what right does a store have to discriminate what goes on a cake. There are plenty of children who are named Saddam - will they refuse those too?

Very sad... These parents are obviously going for shock value and now their children are stuck paying for their parent's bigotry. My boyfriend's sisters initials are KKK because his dad wasn't the most pleasant man and she has hated that her whole life, when she fills out applications etc. she writes her middle name with a C. Poor kids are going to get hell in school.

I went back to the article and looked at the pictures. It looked to me that these people gave their kids normal names at first and then changed them. Because looking at the birth certificates the have all been issued on June 24, 2008. That means both of those parents thought that naming those kids Adolf, and Aryan Nation was a good idea.

I personally think that they were like hey what kind of reaction do you think we will get if we change our kids names to mean something crazy, hateful and weird.

"The Campbells said they wanted their children to have unique names and didn't expect the names to cause problems. Despite the cake refusal, the Campbells said they don't expect the names to cause problems later, such as when the children start school."

Theres not a lot that can be said on that without breaking ground on all the issues people have with the name because of who it was attached to in history and because of all the rights issues along with having something written on something else.

I would have my kiddos full name put on a cake but it would be funny, you see we've always joked that my lil guys name would stretch from one end of a varsity jacket to the other across the sleeves, so thats something I would do, as a joke.

sorry, but if you name your kid after the worst tyrant this world has seen (to put it mildly), you've gotta be prepared for some resistance, ridicule, etc. i'm not saying it's right, but, c'mon. the parents have no sense. not to mention their little "boy" looks like a girl.

"The Campbells said they wanted their children to have unique names and didn't expect the names to cause problems. Despite the cake refusal, the Campbells said they don't expect the names to cause problems later, such as when the children start school."

when my family moved to north america in the late 40s my great uncle had to stop using his first name, adolph.as a german-canadian i am disgusted that people want to pay tribute to something so upsetting to every human being.the parents are obviously being jerks

Just when I thought I had read it all....this is unbelievable! These people are clearly confused. (that's putting it mildly, feel free to insert your own adjectives though) Can you imagine those kids' poor teachers someday? What a friggin' nightmare.

I don't think anyone here is judging the *kid*, who is the unfortunate victim here. People are rightfully calling into question the intelligence and foresight of the parents, who seem to think naming their kids Adolf, Aryan Nation, and a weird hybrid of Heinrich/Himmler (Hinler, the second child's middle name) will somehow not present a problem in the future, when these kids encounter a world that believes, on the whole, that the Holocaust did happen.

Also, anyone who thinks Adolf Hitler is "just a name" or thinks that a swastika is "just a symbol" (which these people seem to think) needs to readjust their relationship with reality. Badly.

I'm trying to think what I would do if I had one of those incredibly hopeless names. Come up with a nickname and pretend it was short for something else, maybe?

What could be said by the daughter; "Hi, my name is Ari! What's that short for? Um, uh... It's 'Arielle', I swear! No, of course it's not anything like that! My parents would have to be crazy! Huh? My dad told you WHAT?"Poor kid!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's pretty horrible, really. And to Jenny Whiskey....what a rotten thing to say about those of us who DO live in PA who are NOT racist or prejudiced against those of different cultures and backgrounds.

I applaud the Shop Rite for standing for its beliefs. I'm glad there are such stores (and employees who work in them) who have morals and standards.

Clearly their parents named their children so that they could get uppity every time it was "discriminated against". It must be like crack to them. Because nobody else would give their kids those names. I hope the kids find out about their namesakes soon and start hating their parents.

I look to this site for humor and this story is just so sad for a number of reasons. But thank you for calling our attention to this issue -- we still have a long way to go fighting bigotry. And kudos to the Shop Rite for refusing to write that on a cake.

To those saying ShopRite was discriminating the Hitler family, they weren't. Discriminating would have been refusing to serve them at all; ShopRite offered them a cake with the room to write Lil Hitler's name on it themselves. They refused.I absolutely back ShopRite on this one.

and the best part about this "story" is that the idiot parents are living off social security. Which means that your tax dollars ladies and gentlemen just paid for a cake that says, "happy birthday Adolf Hitler". Nice.

Hm, wonder what kind of litigation this is going to bring. I'm sure the dad is considering it just for the publicity, to be a 'martyr for the cause'. Wouldn't it be nice if Shop-Rite counter-sued because of the stunt? Or the employees who were offended or emotionally stricken to sue for mental and emotional anguish?

Oh the peeing contest that would be!Not only can you not buy that kind of advertising, but you can't buy that kind of deviance either.

Ummm... who would do that to a kid just for the reason that he'll have to deal with other kids, teachers, and pretty much everyone looking at him negatively for the rest of his life, or at least until he's old enough to change it.

Also, I thought I read recently that there are some things that it's against the law to name your kid and one of them was Hitler. I wonder if that's his legal name.

In any case, what messed up people! Those people in Australia (?) recently that named their daughter that screwed up Talula Hula whatever were charged with abuse, weren't they? This ranks up there.

And then there were a few people in the comments section talking about how Adolf's rights had been violated. I was unaware that we have a right to a cake from a supermarket. How about that? Wrecks for everyone! ;P

First I would like to say that I work at Walmart and I do work in the bakery. I probably shouldnt admit it (haha), but I have no reason to lie! I was laid off and needed to find work soon and Walmart hired me. Anyway with that being said, we have always been told that we have the right to refuse any order we dont see fit. If we dont want the order tied to our store, we dont do it. Its as simple as that. We have turned cakes down and we've never gotten in trouble for it. So to me, its more about the individual store and not about Walmart all together.

Having grown up in an area originally populated by German and Scandinavian immigrants, Adolph was not an uncommon name to hear. Adolph is in fact the name os one of the sweetest, kindest old gents I have ever met. It's the pairing it with "Hitler" that makes it offensive and wrong.

Had they have pared it wait "John" or something, it would have just been odd and the kid could have had a fighting chance of not getting completely ostracized and beat up on the playground on a regular basis becuase he could have been known as "Johnny Campbell".

OMG -- those kids should be taken away from those DNA donors - I can't bring myself to call them parents. They have three kids and the OLDEST is 3. Female DNA donor is only 25! How many more kids are they going to bring into this world to screw up before its all over with? Scary!

Stupid people (the parents of this child) will continue to do such stupid and mean and horrible things, when people like us (who name our kids John, Mary and Dakota and read fun blogs like Cake Wrecks) continue to give them free publicity and attention.

Jen,I would love to see you pull this story from your blog completely. The story is offensive to most; if they want to read and make snarky comments about it, let them do it somewhere else. Readers - yes, the boy has a terrible name, but he didn't choose it. Please, don't pick on him, his hair, his shirt or anything else. He's a child.

I agree about how sad this is for the kids, but I still can't help but wonder...if I lived near this family, would I encourage my children to be friends with their kids? Would you want your kids to go play at this house? (obviously not)...I'm sure I'd be happy to have them come to my home to play, but would I let the friendship go any further than that? I know it will be hard for them when they get older and have to deal with their peers, but I wonder how the adults/families around them are reacting, or how will they be treated in the future?

Also, can I saw how unfortunate it is that an ancient symbol still used throughout Asia today as a symbol of fortune and religious benediction has been forever tarnished in our society as the "swastika" used by the nazis. I've seen them on houses in Asian countries and initially I get a sick feeling when I see one, but I'm glad to be able to associate it with something more peaceful than a brutal regime. Maybe these kids will help people do the same thing? One can only hope.

Here in Germany we have laws for EVERYTHING, even for what you can name your kid. I used to shake my head about that, how the government interferes with a parenting decision like that but from this day on I will applaud that law! No parent could name there kids something like that here in Germany and screw up their lifes along the way and thank all gods for that!

I feel so sorry for these kids, they have no chance to grow up to form their own opinions.

Naming a child after such a horrible human being is so disgusting. Everything he stood for is absolutely terrible and I hope these children grow up to be accepting, wonderful adults and change their names. I know it's going to be hard since their parents are raising them and we know what kind of people they are. Honestly. What if I named my child Osama Bin Laden? I know Osama is a name that causes some controversy but what about that whole name? Ugh. Just terrible.

That is just horrible. In the society we live in today, to not only still believe hateful things like that, but to intentionally teach it to your children, and starting with their NAMES? Go Shop Rite. Hopefully someone else teaches morals and decency to those poor kids...

Anyone else notice that they mislabeled the first pic of the kid as his sister in the article?

NVG-WmsFam said Unbelievable that a parent would name their children with such names. But... (1) freedom of speech (2) rite to individual political/religious beliefs (3) baloney. I'm trying to see their side but absolutely can't.

Actually, this is a great illustration of free speech in action. The right to free speech does not free the speaker from the consequences of his/her speech. It just means the government can't stop them from speaking. The parents have the right to give their kids whatever controversial names they want. On the other hand, the store (as a private, non-governmental entity) has the right to refuse to put it on a cake. The store even offered them a blank cake so they could write it on themselves, which the family refused. The family would have to be REALLY stupid to think they could give their children names like that and not run into difficulties because of it. This is nothing but a publicity stunt.

Hmm. I can't believe the number of people advocating to have the children taken away just because of their names! What is wrong with people? Yeah the parents are ignorant, rude, ill-natured and probably caused this whole mess on purpose just to push their unsavory agenda. But that doesn't give you the right to take their kids away. I know it is hard for some people to accept that they simply don't have the right to control everyone else around them, but that's just the way it is. Deal with it and grow up!

And you know, the quickest way to make a child follow right along in their parents' footsteps is to bombard them with how evil you think their parents are. Leave it alone, and they will eventually see the light on their own. And probably change their names.

The store has every right to deny any request they choose. They would probably deny pornographic messages as well. It's their store and they should be able to choose what kind of merchandise they sell. And if the Hitlers don't like it.. well they are free to shop somewhere else. Unlike if they actually were you know, Jewish in Germany 70 years ago.

And I feel so very sorry for those children... they just never had a chance did they?

It's kind of ironic to say something like, "Certain people shouldn't be allowed to have children" because that's something that the little boy's namesake would have said. So... I guess I just can't say anything.

You should read the whole article complete with pictures of the family. It's really awful. Why not just put "happy birthday Adolf" on the cake except to make a horrible statement? Raised by hate-monger parents...it's clear what these poor children will grow up to believe. Truly sad.

Also, I thought I read recently that there are some things that it's against the law to name your kid and one of them was Hitler. I wonder if that's his legal name.

I don't see how that could happen without violating the first amendment. And for those (though I saw this mostly on the comments for the article) who think Shop-Rite was violating the couples' free speech rights, I'd like to direct you to the first five words of the first amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Even teaching your kids to be raging bigots isn't and shouldn't be illegal. We have to defend the free speech rights of the most stupid in order to defend our own.

That said, I might have given them the stupid writing, simply because I knew they're only doing this to attract attention. I wouldn't have wanted to give them anything to work with. On the other hand, I wouldn't want every idiotic neo-Nazi and Aryan Nation member thinking my store was cool with their beliefs, so maybe I wouldn't have.

I'm really disappointed to see this being given publicity. Such ignorant people who practice the message of hate and rasism should not be given anything - NOT ONE WORD - to further their cause. As "they" say, "There's no such thing as bad publicity."

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